Process for cracking oil



c. w. THoMPsN Efrgm.

i PROCESS Fon CRACKING oIL Marh 24, 1&25.

File-d- Sept 19, 1922 l nwnfou: Czry W TMm/uson@ Hen@ C, Beelen r VM?atto: nur.

Patented Mar. 24, 1925- UNITED STATES PATENT oFF1cE.

CAREY W. THOMPSON AND HENRY C. BEIlIIlilllt, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

PROCESS FOR Application led September To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that We, CAREY W. THOMPSON and HENRY C. BEELER, citizens ofthe United States, and residents of Denver,in the county of Denver, inthe State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Processes for Cracking Oil, of which the following is aspecification.

kUur present inventiony relates to the cracking of oil, or theconversion of heavy oil into hydrocarbons of a lower boiling point.

The primary object of our invention is the provision of certain detailsby which this conversion is effected with maximum eiciency.

The invention includes a device for conveying an inert carrier which hasbeen mixed with the heavy oil to be converted, through a retort whichmay be progressively heated in any preferred manner, to form zones ofvarying heat intensity. Said zone take-ofs are provided for the removalof material vaporized in these zones, separately or in a common duct, asmay be found desirable.

The heavy hydrocarbons liberated may be returned to the conveyor inproximity to the cold end and made. to pass through the zones a secondtime in order to insure complete removal of the higher distillates. Itmaybe found desirable to provide in the take-offs mentioned, certaincatalysts, which serve normally the purpose of increasing the saturationof the material acted on, by providing a condensing, separating andrevaporizing action most advantageous in this art.

In the drawing We have illustrated diagrammatically a satisfactorydevice for the accomplishment of the desired objects, in which a hopperis illustrated at ladapted to contain the carrier material, which may bespent shale, gravel, or the like, delivering said material into a rotaryor other conveyor 2, Whichis heated by means of fire chamber 3, fed fromany desired source. A

delivery pipe 4; is provided for the heavy.

oil to be acted upon, which is delivered to the carrierat the cold endof the conveyor and becomes thoroughly mixed with thecarrier in itstravel through the retort. As the .material'passes in the first heatVzone cer- CRACKING 01T...

19, 1922. Serial N0. 589,124.

tain low boiling point vapors are set freev and may be removed throughduct 5 for further treatment if desired. Continued rotation of theconveyor carries the material into the hotter zones where morehydrocarbons of a slightly higher boiling point, are liberated and whichare adapted to be carried off through manifold 6 and duct 7 for furthertreatment. In the passage through the manifold the gaseswill'neeessarily be slightly cooled, the more readily condensable vaporsentering the conveyor through the port 8, from which the cycle isrepeated. It has been found desirable to provide the take-offs With agrid or the like 9, upon 'Which'is supported material- 10, of acatalytic nature, such as pumice, vol` canic ash, fullers earth, andsimilar mate; rials. In passing upwardly through this material thevaporized hydrocarbons are cooled to a certain extent, the ma terial 10acting as a vapor baille, thus 'retarding the flow from the retort and`allowing the condensation and separating out of the heavier hydrocarbonswhich are thus returned to the carrier material, Where they arere-vaporized, more light hydrocarbon vapors formed, and the carbon setfree as a result of such action deposited on Vthe carrier and continuingto the end of the conveyor. Tex are 'aware that these materials havebeen used as filtering mediums, and such We do not clai1n,'it beingdistinctly understood that such filtering yaction forms no part of thispresent invention. Due to the fact that the lighter the oil, the coolerthe vapor may be Without being condensed, Whereas the heavier oils willcondense at a higher temperature than the escaping lighter oils, we areable, by the use of said-.material 10, to get a cleaner fraction and amore efficient conversion by condensing the heavier oils and returningthe same to the conveyor, thus causing them to pass through a y reo Aprocess of treating liquid hydrocarbons, which comprises the steps ofsubjecting a' mixture of liquid hydrocarbons and an inert carrier tosuccessive zones of increasing temperature, independently vremoving thelightest portion, independently re-luxing Within the heating zones thevapors formed at the successive zones of heating, and combining theuncondensed vapors and further cooling said vapors and returning thecondensate 10 CAREY W. THoMPsoN. HENRY o. BEELER.

